"The President . . . may require the Opinion, in writing,
of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments . . . ."

Article II, Section 2

Discussion of the divisive
issue of an executive dated back to 1776. During the Revolutionary War, commitment
to government by legislatures and the popular resentment against the king, royal
governors, and their ministers proved so powerful that Congress performed executive
functions by committees or by delegating them to a sitting member. In 1781 Congress
instituted three semi-independent executive departments--war, foreign affairs, and
finance--headed by non-delegates. The Federal Convention was guided by little
federal precedent when it designed the presidency. The results were vague and
incomplete. The existence of the executive departments and the power to create
them is in the Constitution only by implication. Antifederalists had complained
about the executive, who they feared would be a virtual monarch, almost as much
as about the judiciary. On May 19, Madison proposed the creation of three
departments--foreign affairs, war, and treasury. Congress established all three
by the end of the first session.